AF&Y Adds Capacity, Jobs

Because of a doubling in demand for
its Marquesa® and Innova® high-performance yarn in the past two years, Chapel Hill, N.C.-based
American Fibers and Yarns Co. (AF&Y) is increasing its extrusion capacity by 30 percent and
texturing capacity by 25 percent. The increase is occurring mostly at its Bainbridge, Ga., plant,
which also houses the AF&Y Technology Center. In connection with the expansion, the company
expects to hire 25 to 30 new employees.

According to AF&Y, its yarns increasingly are replacing cotton, polyester and acrylic in
apparel, upholstery, mattress fabrics, and other home and contract textile applications. This
growth in demand, coupled with the doubling of the company’s export business every year for the
last three years, spurred the decision, AF&Y reported.

In other company news, AF&Y’s Marquesa® man-made yarn technology is now featured in
Cologne, N.J.-based Absecon Mills Inc.’s Cantara fabric collection, which features cotton’s look
and feel with yarn-inherent stain resistance, durability, colorfastness and bleach
cleanability.